Picture of the Day · NASA
NGC 3660 and Burçin's Galaxy
2026-05-26
The upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower galaxy is more unusual. The galaxy up top is NGC 3660, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy in that it has several bright blue spiral arms and a central bar of stars, dust, and gas. Captured by chance in the featured deep and colorful image, surprisingly, is SN 2026cff, a supernova found just to the right of the central bar. Farther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, known informally as Burçin’s galaxy, but formally cataloged as LEDA 1000714. The center of this galaxy appears to be an old elliptical galaxy, but it is strangely surrounded by not one but two rings of stars. What created Burçin's galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, but it likely involves the accretion of one or more smaller galaxies.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- J. Coggia , 1878
- Discovery date
- 11 April 1878
- Pronunciation
- / l æ m ˈ b ɜːr t ə /
- Alternative designations
- A878 GB; 1946 LB;, 1948 XR
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 113.41 yr (41424 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3856 AU (506.48 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.0695 AU (309.59 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.7276 AU (408.04 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.50 yr (1645.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 217.42 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 7.68 / day
- Inclination
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Johann Heinrich Lambert
- Followed by
- 188 Menippe
- Follows
- 186 Celuta
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +147.294
- Orbital period
- +1648.523570499603
- Image
- Lamberta VLT.png
Show 4 more facts
Article
187 Lamberta is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Corsican-born French astronomer Jérôme Eugène Coggia on April 11, 1878. It was named after the astronomer Johann Heinrich Lambert. This was the second of Coggia's five asteroid discoveries.
This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.73 AU with a moderate eccentricity of 0.24 and an orbital period of 4.50 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 10.6° to the plane of the ecliptic. It is spinning with a rotation period of 10.67 hours.